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Foodservice market remains strong thanks to steakhouse popularity

Whether or not it’s their account, sweet potato grower-shippers are fans of the Outback Steakhouse chain.

It was the Tampa, Fla.-based OSI Restaurant Partners LLC,owners of the Outback Steakhouse and other chains, that growers credited for bringing fresh sweet potatoes to a wider audience in foodservice.

“I think the big move for sweet potatoes came when the shippers broke into Outback Steakhouse and started supplying sweet potatoes into steakhouses,” said Stewart Precythe, chief executive officer of Faison, N.C.-based Southern Distributors.

“Once you get into the Outback, competitors go in and see what’s on each other’s menus. Now all the big steakhouses have them in some way.”

The foodservice demand, combined with demand from the processing side of the business, has helped keep the market stable, Precythe said.

“I never dreamed it would be like this,” said Jimmy Burch, owner of Faison-based Burch Farms. “With all the chains adding them and restaurants adding them, the business has just grown.”

All that foodservice business spills over into retail, as well.

“People eat them in a restaurant and say, ‘Golly, these are pretty good,’” said Jerome Vick, co-owner of Vick Family Farms, Wilson, N.C. “Then they cook them at home. Our year-round consumption is really benefiting.”

“We are working on programs with individual foodservice companies, and we have the electronic sizers at our facility so we can have specific sizes,” he said. “Foodservice accounts have to have the consistent sizing.”

One thing foodservice is good for is innovation.

George Wooten, president and owner of Chadbourn, N.C.-based Wayne E. Bailey Produce said most chefs are looking for something new and exciting for their menus and niche varieties like fingerlings fit that bill.

“Foodservice has been a little bit steadier with them,” he said.

The Smithfield-based North Carolina SweetPotato Commission is reaching out to foodservice operators, particularly the institutional side of the category.

“We’re going to be working with a group of dining operations to do promotions in some of their facilities,” said Sue Johnson-Langdon, executive director. “There will be sweet potatoes on the menu for promotional times through this and also banners, counter signs, table tents and leaflets.”

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About the Author:

Pamela Riemenschneider, Editor

Pamela Riemenschneider has been with The Packer Newspaper for the past 10 years, and editor of sister publication Produce Retailer Magazine since 2009. During her time with Vance Publishing, she’s traveled all over North America and Europe visiting grocery operations, from single-store fruit stands to national chain supermarkets. She focuses on retail and consumer trends, packaging, new products and in-store operations to help retailers build exceptional produce categories. She also produces a video series from her Austin, Texas, home, “Pamela’s Kitchen,” where she does first-hand reviews of new products, often featuring her two sons, Ike and Uli.